Shock and anger as £1b SEMMMS bid gets shelved

THE leader of Stockport Council has accused a government minister of a "shocking lack of vision" after she scuppered the borough's efforts at reducing traffic congestion by rejecting a £1billion bid to build the controversial SEMMMS relief road.

THE leader of Stockport Council has accused a government minister of a "shocking lack of vision" after she scuppered the borough's efforts at reducing traffic congestion by rejecting a £1billion bid to build the controversial SEMMMS relief road.

The Stockport Express has learnt that plans to build the 25km road, which would have run from Brinnington in the north of the borough to Woodford, Adlington and Poynton in the south, and linked up to Manchester Airport in the east, has been costed as being too expensive by the Department for Transport (DfT).

Emergency talks will now be held with department officials and the Council to look at other ways of funding what is likely to become a phased scheme over many years.

The shock rejection was met with "total fury" by the leader of Stockport Council Coun Dave Goddard, while leading anti-SEMMMS campaigner Sheila Oliver, who feared the "destruction" of the Goyt Valley, welcomed the news. Elsewhere some politicians suggested a new toll road could now be the answer.

In a letter to three of the borough's MPs, Gillian Merron, the Paliamentary Under-Secretary at the DfT said: "While we recognise the scheme would deliver significant benefits in relieving congestion in the South East Manchester area and improving access to Manchester Airport, the key issue we have been seeking to address is the affordability of the scheme within available budgets."

At the behest of the government Stockport submitted plans to fund the £700 million scheme through Private Funding Initiative (PFI). The figure now, according to the minister "is estimated to be around £1billion". The minister said this could not be covered through conventional budgets and said she "was keen to revisit all possible avenues for securing funding alongside other potential priorities over the next decade. As part of this process I have indicated that it would be helpful if my officials review with Stockport the scope for phasing the implementation of the scheme".

Coun Goddard said: "To say we are amazed and angry would be an understatement. I am sick and tired of Stockport being messed around by the Department for Transport and I know that tens of thousands of people and businesses across the region, and our neighbouring councils, will share my deep disappointment.

"I think the she is demonstrating a shocking lack of vision for Greater Manchester.The minister herself admits the scheme would be beneficial. But they hang back, almost as if they have lost their nerve, and obviously as each year passes estimated costs increase - and then they turn round and say things are getting too expensive!"

A joint statement by Mark Hunter and Andrew Stunell, Lib Dem MPs for Cheadle and Hazel Grove respectively, said: "It is bitterly disappointing that the minister has thrown away four years' work and planning when what local residents wanted to hear was an announcement of the immediate go ahead for the A555 . The PFI scheme was developed because the Government wanted it, so this decision is very hard to understand."

Stockport MP Ann Coffey said: "It's a very expensive road scheme and the government was considering whether it could be done by a PFI scheme. What the government has now made is a very good offer in that they all sit down with Council officers and consider various options on how to fund it."

In a later development, as the Stockport Express went to press last night, Ms Coffey tabled a written question to the minister in the Commons asking whether the government would consider the option of building the SEMMMS road as a toll road.

Coun Peter Scott, the leader of the Labour group at Stockport Council, said: "I think we have to consider all the options but one of the best ways of funding the scheme would be to have a toll road. In that way the people who use the road would pay for it."

Anti-road campaigner Sheila Oliver said: "Maybe the Council can now officially start promoting the Goyt Valley as the wonderful asset to our town that it is without this threat of its destruction hanging over us."